I hadn't read this novel since shortly after it was published, and it's rare for a book to stick in my memory for that long. I was happy to read it again and see that it holds up very well; it's one of the best time-travel stories I've read.
The story begins in 1988, with Jeff Winston's death at the age of 43. He wakes up in 1963, an 18-year-old with all the memories of his adult life. He does the obvious things -- makes a fortune betting on sports events, invests in the right stocks, tries to save JFK -- and makes sure to take particularly good care of his health. But when he reaches the age of 43, he dies of another heart attack, and finds himself an 18-year-old again.
The cycle continues, and each new replay finds Jeff with different goals, usually as a reaction to whatever he didn't like about the previous life. Money, sex, love, philanthropy -- the search for true happiness takes different forms every time, with the knowledge of impending death hovering over each life, and the fear that the next death could be the last. When Jeff meets another repeater, Replay becomes an oddly moving love story.
Grimwood wisely doesn't attempt to explain why this is happening; the focus is more on the human reaction than on the mechanics of the situation. Jeff is a finely realized character, and his responses to his far-fetched reality always ring true.
Replay is less than 20 years old. Is that too soon to call it a classic?
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